TUAMOTUS
The Tuamotus are the oldest volcanic islands of French Polynesia and it explains why they are so flat now. Originally they were mountainous like the more recently formed Tahiti and Moorea but over millions of years, the Tuamotus were eroded by the wind and disappeared underwater. The coral that surrounded those islands grew up over thousands of years, making the geography that we see nowadays of unique rings of coral with lagoons of sheltered salt water inside. Over time the coral was gradually eroded forming a thick sand which accumulated into land. Then coconuts floated to shore on these islands in formation and started to grow into palm trees, evolution at work ! As a windsurfer, the best result of all this natural transformation are the “passes” or channels that form into a reef that connects the inside lagoons to the main ocean. These reefs are normally curved around the islands and make some of the most perfect waves on the planet!
We started our journey from the south east of the archipelago so we could sail west with the trades with the wind in our favor. Our first stop was Fakarava where myself, my wife “Nana” and one of my best friends Claudio meet with Cathy and Markus who were waiting for us on the Mormaii Sail Boat for the start of our 35 day adventure. We loaded up with supplies, prepared the boat and headed to the south of the atoll where there was supposed to be one of the most beautiful dives on the planet. Once we arrived, it was really like stepping into paradise! There were only two dive centers and a few bungalows on a couple of the small islands and maybe another ten islands around that were completely covered with coconut trees, white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. We could see sharks and rays from the top of the boat around seven meters down in the turquoise water.
On the first day the winds were around 18 knots from the northeast, and I was so excited to go check the pass and check the waves and wind direction. It turned out to be too offshore and light on the inside, so I settled for a kite session inside the lagoon. The next day the wind stopped and turned to south east with light intensity so we decided to scuba dive, as Fakarava is known for some of the most insane diving in the world. I have to say the dive session was the most amazing experience of our lives. We saw around 250 sharks in big schools just hanging in the deep pass where the waters are flowing with the strong currents so they don’t need to move much to breathe. It was mind blowing to see these underwater giants right in front of our eyes.